4 ms·
Haha, not even close. Besides the obvious low pressure issues with surviving in a vacuum that cause the membrane to become permeable, "electricity" doesn't repl
by tstactplsignore 10y ago
Haha, not even close. Besides the obvious low pressure issues with surviving in a vacuum that cause the membrane to become permeable, "electricity" doesn't replace all metabolism for these organisms.
They still need a source of the common and rare elements required for life (CNOP + several metal cations), a pool of hydrogen, carbon electron donors, and water. Basically on par with stuff that most microbes are going to use.
The metallic reduction reaction that the first species discussed uses:
https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Dissimilatory_metal_reduction#Shewanella_putrefaciens https://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Dissimilatory_metal...
And for the second, which absorbs Hydrogen:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenotroph https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenotroph
This is a cool area of research, but everyone seems to have fundamentally overestimated what it means to the lay person.